Running Fast and Running Around, but Mostly Running Late

Yesterday was our 4-year wedding anniversary. So much has changed and so much has stayed the same in that time.  Obviously, our lifestyle has changed with the addition of two little kids. We party less (no more hangovers), have less professional ambition (at least for the immediate near future), and have less expendable income (two daycare bills is no joke), but our lifelong pursuits to travel, spend time with family and friends, enjoy food and booze, and stay active have remained the same, if not intensified.  

I’ve been back at work for almost two months now, and personally and professionally, there’s always a lot to do and and so little time to get it all done. I do a lot of multi-tasking and Jeff will be the first to tell you, I’m so fucking bad at it.  I leave the dishwasher half emptied, the kids partially dressed, the bagels burning and my voicemail overflowing all the time.  “Mom, use two hands!” has become a common command from Colette, when I go to tuck her into bed, or put on her boots, as she catches on to my sub-par ability to do more than one task at a time.  

Great start to the day!

Recently, a friend asked me if having two kids is really that much more different than having one. Um, in short, YES! I’m sure in a few years, the difference might not be that dramatic, but right now it is. Julien is just over 4 months old now, and has been to the doctors a fair share and emergency care once.  He’s wheezy and has the skin-care regimen of a supermodel. When one is sick the other isn’t, when one has blow-out poop diaper, the other demands not to wear pants outside, when one is taking a nap, the other wants to play hide & seek in the room of the napper.  It’s pretty exhausting and if Jeff weren’t the rockstar Dad/Husband that he is, I think I might have tapped out by now.

Grand Army Plaza on a 8pm run

And as if life isn’t busy enough on a go-nowhere day at home, we seek out ways to intensify it and really push the strength of our marriage to the test.  Jeff and I are both training for multiple half-marathons and squeeze in runs before work, between snowstorms and after the kids are in bed. This weekend we’re headed to Austin, TX so that my Sister, Mom and I can run 13.1 miles in their half-marathon.  The men in our lives will be our support team, babysitters and cheerleaders just like they are on a normal day. I’m incredibly proud to be running with this team of powerhouse women.   It will be the first long-distance race for my Mom and the first long-distance race for my Sister and me post 2^nd pregnancies.

She's the only one who doesn't mind all of this cold!

Before we run in Austin, we have to get to Austin with two babes in tow, which is a little more intimidating than the race itself.  Wish us luck!